WESTFIELD – Mayor Daniel M. Knapik set out to update the city’s senior citizens on “All Things Westfield” recently, fielding questions from a packed room at the Senior Center.

Questions ran the gamut from senior housing, the Elm Street transportation center project and real estate taxes to the bike trail timetable, progress on the Pochassic Street bridge and parking for events on the Green.

But there was one topic of uppermost interest for most seniors gathered at the Main Street facility. “I came to find out what’s really happening with the Senior Center,” said Joan C. Boulrice of Thomas Street. “There are all kinds of rumors. I come to all of these talks. It’s the best way to nip those rumors in the bud.”

After four years spent visiting senior centers in other towns, lining up funding and negotiating legal hurdles for the site on Noble Street, the Senior Center building committee is finalizing the design for architects, said Knapik.

“(The sum of) $300,000 has been appropriated for the first step – formal design,” he said. The project will then go out to bid by March, with construction under way by the fall of 2014.”

“It will be beautiful inside and out,” said Knapik, “and will provide amenities and programs in tune with the interests of seniors today. It will enhance and enrich many lives.”

Mindful of the statistics – there are currently 8,000 Westfield residents over the age of 65 – and the larger demand for critical services the city provides, said Knapik, the intent is to link city services, such as veterans benefits, to the center, and to help manage the needs of seniors across the board.

“In recent national disasters, we’ve seen that there are those who lose everything, who have nothing to go back to,” said Knapik. “We want to be a larger partner in care.”

Knapik said he also is committed to working out transportation issues for the center.

From start to finish, Council on Aging Executive Director Tina Gorman said she is confident that actual construction of the center will take 13 to 18 months.

“The city is dramatically different from what it was 30 to 40 years ago,” said Knapik, “with more seniors than there are kids in the school system.”

Down the line, said Knapik, “we expect to have nearby houses become available for sale, allowing the “design to accordion out,” thus keeping pace with the city’s growing population of senior citizens.